UK can be a ‘free agent’ in financial markets after Brexit, says think tank October 19, 2020 The UK can be a significant “free agent” in the global banking and financial markets once Brexit is over, a new report claims. As negotiations continue in the next few weeks and Bois Johnson steps up his no-deal rhetoric, the UK’s banking and finance industry is in for a seismic change. A report by think [...]
Love in a time of Covid: A guide to lockdown dating October 19, 2020 Shakespeare’s assertion that “the course of true love never did run smooth” has never felt quite so true as it has during the pandemic for couples who don’t live together. This has become especially complicated with the introduction of different restriction levels across regional boundaries. From the beginning of lockdown, clarity on how to live [...]
Half of UK financial services staff want shift to flexible working October 19, 2020 Half of Brits working in the financial services sector want to shift to a more flexible working model after the coronavirus pandemic ends, a new survey has revealed. The outbreak of Covid-19 has sparked a major change in working habits, as stay-at-home orders have fuelled a sharp rise in home working. A survey by KPMG [...]
It’s up to the City to drive Britain’s economic recovery October 19, 2020 “The harder yards are ahead of us,” warned Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey recently, as Britain’s households and businesses brace themselves for a bitter winter in the midst of the pandemic. With the UK’s economic recovery already fragile, it is clear we need to identify the engines for growth that can weather the storm [...]
Coronavirus: Finance chiefs do not expect recovery until next summer October 19, 2020 Finance bosses do not expect business demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels until next summer at the earliest as the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and the looming Brexit deadline continue to hit confidence. A survey by Deloitte revealed that more than two-thirds of chief financial officers do not expect demand for their own businesses to bounce [...]
Businesses warn of ‘mass redundancies’ as fresh restrictions set in October 18, 2020 Businesses have warned Boris Johnson that the UK is facing a fresh wave of “mass redundancies” unless more financial support is provided for companies hit by Covid-19 restrictions. In a letter to the prime minister the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the government’s tiered restrictions and the looming threat of a so-called circuit breaker [...]
Government extends TfL funding for two weeks amid emergency bailout talks October 16, 2020 The government has extended its funding package for Transport for London (TfL) for two weeks, as the transport body scrambles to shore up emergency cash ahead of further lockdown restrictions in the capital. A spokesperson for TfL said: “We have today agreed with the government that our funding will be extended for two weeks so [...]
BA and Virgin bag £70m of taxpayer money to fly PPE back from China October 16, 2020 British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have been paid more than £70m of taxpayer money to ferry personal protective equipment (PPE) to the UK from China, as the government scrambles to stock up supplies in time for winter. BA, which is the second-largest airline in the UK, was handed £46m between May and July through a [...]
London lockdown: 200,000 hospitality workers to lose jobs this weekend, industry body warns October 16, 2020 About 200,000 hospitality workers in central London will lose their jobs this weekend as tier 2 coronavirus lockdown restrictions are imposed, the industry body’s chief executive has warned. UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the tier 2 lockdown, which prohibits people from separate households from mixing, is a “maximum squeeze on revenue with no [...]
Coronavirus: Daily cases in England rise to 27,900 October 16, 2020 Daily coronavirus cases in England have rocketed to 27,900, according to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), marking a 10,000 increase since last week’s average. The estimated number of coronavirus cases for the week to 2 October was 17,200, while the average for the week before was 12,600. The ONS said this [...]